Exercise Diary: Sunday Restorative Yoga

It's not the first time I've gone to yoga classes on Sunday, but today is the first day I tried what they called the Flow and Restore yoga.  I went because my friend had a free birthday class she could either use herself or give it to a friend, and since she has the unlamented monthly pass, I got to be the lucky friend (and finally found out when her birthday was).

Since I always go to the same yoga classes on Tuesday afternoons, and rarely pick classes based on their names, I went in without really realizing how this class may be different than the other ones I always take.  But Flow and Restore was true to its name.  We went through a couple of rounds of downward dogs, did some warriors, and then spent much of the class in a bunch of restorative poses stretching or lying still.  We also got to use all the props they have in the studio, and this included the usual blocks, but also a big pillow called the bolster, and giant blankets (2 per person).  I did sweat, but in terms of a real workout I think I got none.

And I'm okay with that.  Originally I was supposed to run 5 miles today and I even had enough time before yoga to go to the gym if I wanted.  But Since Thursday's run my ankles and calves stayed sore even today.  Granted I tried to run barefoot on a treadmill when I stayed over at a friend's house, which didn't turn out too well since his treadmill was weird and kept stopping.  But however little I ran I did using just the front of my feet, and that combined with no support from shoes made my feet unhappy.  And I think that also contributed with the extra soreness of the calves.  I've only felt such pain once before, and that was after my first time ever of hiking, which took 6 hours and was way too hard for me.  That time I lost 5 pounds just from that one experience, and spend the next week having trouble going down stairs.  And now I feel the same way.  There is a step between the floor of my room and the bathroom, and I basically crash down that step every time I get out of the bathroom.  So I gladly decided to postpone the run (to next week) and decided I would do yoga, stretch, and relax.

Not sure if yoga helped with the soreness, but it certainly didn't hurt.  If I received no real injuries from I-don't-even-know-what-this-pain-means I should feel fine in a few days and will be fine.  Will still be running and whatnot, but don't want to  be too hard on my body.